Jedai
Great first half of fighting, the short battles work very well. Then, the character who was so badass just charges in swinging wildly. It does end up regaining its stride (around the time the bald Jedi loses his, haha, get it?). Aside from the knee-slice, though, in the actual one-on-one duel nothing blew me away. (The plot did nothing for me, but that’s not at issue here.)

Hilltop Duel
You kids got guts. Moreover, I can tell that this is very well rehearsed. However, there’s a lot of stick bashing. (This was my problem with a lot of other entries that I didn’t end up saying anything about.) You’ve got some good sequences, a lot of nice hits, and really great speed behind your saber usage. But ultimately, I didn’t feel that anyone was in danger. It was sparring – which, as I go into with a later entry, can be fine, but in the absence of any plot, we assume that characters are trying to harm the opponent, and I didn’t get that sense. However, keep working on it, and I really look forward to what you’ve got for next year!

Rise of the Fallen
BAM. Let me say first that I loved your visual style and effects. As I was watching, one of my friends made a comment of too much blood, but I thought it fit very well (Andrew W.K. blood, I called it). On the choreo itself, you did a great job making every hit look like it had intent behind it. I appreciate that you went to change locations but I could tell that inside the stone structure, you couldn’t figure out good choreo for it; I’m glad you got out of there quickly. You also had good integration of Force powers in with the fight as well (and again, I loved the effects). And oh man, your kill. Gasps from everyone watching, I couldn’t get over it.
Last note, I was SO SAD that someone else blocked a saber with their hand Great job, through and through.

Round 1 Infinity
Nothing really mind blowing here choreography wise. Some stick bashing, some that had more intent behind it. Big thing I’ll compliment you on is using the story and reflecting it in the choreography as the protagonist gets more comfortable with his situation and more confident as he goes for more forceful attacks.

Story-wise, I feel like it could have benefitted froma few loops. First one, really short. Second one, kinda short. Third one, really long; could have had some more to let de desperation of the loop sink in. Also I love the Japanese blade (katana?). You also got compliments on costuming for the guy in black.

In Search of a Master
This is one of the rare entries where a missed opportunity didn’t feel like a fault of the choreography, but instead of the character, seeing as he’s presented as a novice or apprentice of sorts. One comment from my group was that it felt a bit like Morpheus vs. Neo. I LOVED the little sequence around 1:15 with the small stabs blocked by the simple shifts in the vertical saber.

One thing done very right is that this is a sparring match, not a duel to the death. The story lets us know that, and the choreography is very informed by that. I feel like if these two were trying to kill each other, the choreography would be a bit different, closer kill swings and such.

Nice Avengers reference.

Prevail
On the regular single-saber choreo, I don’t really know what to say. Nice fast moves and great intent behind each swing. What really impressed me was the polearm saber, and how well it was used. I’ve seen them a few times before but they were never used to potential – you did a great job making the most of the unique properties of the weapon. Great job!

Slice
The opening bumper here is way too epic. This is my favorite humorous entry from this year, by far. The saber choreo was great, though I saw some missed opportunities.

You new weapon, though? Holy hell, dude. Loved it! Except, it lasted too long. The trouble with a lot of new weapons introduced is that they work best if you look at the guy with the new weapon; looking at the guy with the green saber here, we see a lot of missed opportunities, since he now exists just to make the other guy look good. I’d like to see this weapon explored more, but for this entry, it should have been kept shorter, get your really awesome moves in and end on a high note.

Ferocity
Duuuuude. Such a great job. This is the first time I’ve seen two people versus one double-saber for so long without it seeming like somebody’s just sitting there waiting their turn. Your swings have intent and you’re very obviously trying to hurt each other. Moreover it’s really well rehearsed, and you guys have the body language to really give the performance that extra dimension, ESPECIALLY your bad guy.

I wasn’t a fan of the sabers sticking in the ground and against each other around 1:25, but that’s a creative choice and not something I can complain about the choreography for.

Also, dude, AWESOME KILL SHOT. Dude’s evil, yo. The second one’s good too but not nearly as “wow” as the first.

RvSB: Nemesis
I love the difference in stature in the first section. Pitting these two against each other worked really well.

I have nothing to say about the choreo. It’s nice and fast, and well rehearsed, but for the most part the saber use wasn’t wowing me. The Force use, however, was. I will say that I felt that Bane – sorry, Ricky – should have probably been more solid and economical in his attacks. At times he seemed very fluid, which normally works well but I was of the opinion that his character should have been more immovable than that. Personal opinion though.

I really did like the choreo towards the end – SilentBat being very haphazard in his attacks. I kept wondering if he’d be able to center himself with the Force, and while he did, it wasn’t what won it for him and ultimately the guy with the Force *and* with a working set of eyes ended up winning the day, to be done in by a deus ex machine.

Very solid entry, though. Enjoyable the whole way through.

Echelon
Self critique? Nah, I’m not removed enough from my own thing to do that. Notes compared to others though, I like that we did a move where we missed each other, like two other entrants did, but we didn’t make a move out of it, we just kept going. Our intent was a slower, more OT style in our moves, and I think after watching a bunch of PT style entries in a row it feels pretty slow, but on its own I'm happy with it.

And yes, the padawan braid is – or was – real.

Edit: "An unexpected error has occurred and your responses cannot be saved. Your responses have not been lost and have been emailed to the survey administrator and will be entered into our database at a later point."

Ozers, so many entries. I already can see the fan favourites and depending what the judges look for in selecting the top 3 will be interesting. (With so many entries I'm surprised you guys didn't do a top 5.) I certainly wouldn't want to be in the judges shoes. My hat to all those that entered, I was entertained far beyond my bedtime and look forward to the livestream.

I'm going to stick strictly to choreography seeing as its the topic at hand and touch on my aspects of them as films after choreo. Also picking up an award thing someone did the year I entered, it was fun.DimoN vs Stas
I liked this, you guys had sexy glows and some interesting moves peppered throughout. The saber destruction/force throw gag was awesome. Choreo could be a bit tighter. The blocks are coming before the attacks in spots, closing that gap is challenging but it will make your choreo look much more dangerous. Remember: blocks before blows. There's a lot of repetitive blocking at times, where the defender will simply hold his saber up and the attacker swings at it a few times. I think a more open location would've benefited your duel as well, a few times red saber guy is kind of backed into the walls and so the energy stops and you both re-positioning via walking "the circle of intensity". I hope to see more of you guys next year, you've got great potential. And yes, I picked up on that bit of choreo inspired by RVB2.
I award you "Best IN YO FACE 3D effect of the year":

Jedai
The sith killing the Jedi in the beginning reminded me of Palpatine killing off 1/3 of the Jedi Council in Ep. III, and it wasn't great. These are supposed to be trained men and women in the art of dueling, and they are cut through like tissue paper. The issue with 1 vs. many fights is taking the time to craft personality into each encounter, however brief they may be. A little more TLC on those parts and it would've been much more solid. Getting into the 1v1, I love the DIRECTNESS of your moves, very deliberate. I'm a sucker for stances, and you guys got it going on. Your hero just... HOLDS his position till the very last moment, it plays so well on camera. Beautiful shots going on in the beginning, and something about the lady Jedi having a fan gave those moments such character. I challenge you: next year make it a weapon. Just go with it.
I bestow upon you the award "Line Leader-Most Calm and Collected Fighter":

Sciurus art group
As much as I'm attempting to be a stickler about choreo, editing and camera choices play a big part. One angle will not show off your choreo the way you want it to, just won't work. There's a few spots that seem like either "blocks before blows" or trying to remember choreo, so just work on keeping that tight. You two had excellent form most of the time, some less-than-great footwork at times from blue saber. One move I especially loved was at 2:07 when red saber dodges the blue saber, I know that I shouldn't because she is nowhere near that blade but it was performed well so it gets a pass. Don't know if this was on purpose but there's a change in fighting style from red saber about halfway through. Blue saber likes to keep his saber in her face, and red keeps hers close to her in defense. But then red saber starts to get aggressive and keeps her saber directed at him. I picked up on this immediately and loved it. The transition shot from the lit studio to the costumes and sabers I loved, it was old school.
I grant you the award "Can't Touch This- Coolest non-violent ending":

John Vs. Marvin
Well, there isn't a whole heck of a lot of contact going on here. Its like two broken speedometer needles going back and forth, it never gets in your face or dangerous. I'm sure the thought was that with saber fx on it later, it will sell, but there just seems to be no choreo truly being executed. Be honest with me: was it mostly improv?
"The Vogues' Turn Around and Look at Me- Least Photogenic Killer since 'Bono Ex Umbris'":

Child's PlayNow, keeping in mind there are kids here I'll keep it PG-13... The soft core porn intro threw me. This is the HBO After Dark entry I've been waiting for. Scantilly clad women with whips? You've got my attention. Guy does a touchdown raiz, lightsabers out. And then... another touchdown raiz corkscrew? Followed by another touchdown raiz corkscrew? Followed by sith girl playing Pong with his saber, and flippy moonwalks backwards. Jokes and innuendos aside there's a lot of "up down left right" going on, with the occasional tricking move thrown in to flare it up. The concept is awesome, and the costumes/makeup were very well done. Have a girl fight in a tube top and heels is not conducive to saber dueling though, and it hinders the fight. She moves slowly so the duel follows suit. Blue saber guy obviously has talents: try to utilize them in a more natural way. Let the CHOREO lend itself to the tricking. And as impractical as it may seem to others, a corkscrew or b-twist worked well within a fight is a viable defensive move.
Boogie down to the award "Smooth Criminal-Best Dance Choreo":

COMING SOON...

The PrizeJan vs TobiasHilltop DuelRise of the FallenRound 1 InfinityReunionThe Sith and the JediIn Search of a MasterPrevailSliceFerocityEchelon:Boter vs. VaportrailRvSB Nemesis

So apparently the edit time limit is 30 minutes... At any rate. Here's 6-14.

The Prize
I'm not even going to question how you got to the moon of Endor, but where in the heck do you find a place like this?! Your choreo isn't bad, it just lacked the energy needed to sell it. Especially some of the melee hits, they were pretty weak. There are also some moments where the footwork could've used some work, you'd both come to this complete stop and just start doing choreography. There's so much room and environment to explore, so keep it mobile as much as possible. The footwork I did see was pretty good, you guys don't ever seem to stumble over yourselves with the slightly complex movements, its just second nature. The choreo around 2:05-2:10 is interesting, just needed some energy behind it. Overall not particularly stunning, but it has its moments. Explore your environment more next time, try and work it into your choreo.
Your prize is the award "Over Before it Began- Saddest Defeat Before Any Actual Fighting":

Jan vs Tobias
Well, its a short one, and there's nothin wrong with that. You kept the fight moving for the most part and that's great. I'm really pleased that you didn't try to do it really fast either. Its strength over speed that's important, and you guys used that a few times. Helps sell big hits and whatnot. That being said: pick up the pacing within comfortable speed, don't hurt each other by hacking away or anything. Just try and get it going at a rhythm you can perform over and over. At :45 is that a little RvD2 reference there?
I award you "One Saber To Rule Them All- Most One-Sided Duel Ever...":

Hilltop Duel
YES. BLACK POWER. Ok, I know a lot of people are going to say this was a bunch of stick bashing, but this was my "omg" entry of the year. Un.limited.potential. You two have crafted one of the best, if not the best, lightsaber duels for your age. I put you in my Top 10 of this year. BUT WAIT: I'm far from done showering you with accolades! There's so many interesting and unique moves going on here. One of my favorites is at 1:47, which from now on will be referred to as The Maestro. I shouldn't love this because you clearly missed the first two swings, but man does it looks cool. CLEARLY you spent a lot of time on this, and you perform this so well. The only thing keeping you back from a higher spot is: the Canada shirt. No but really, its the speed. Funny thing is that while going faster is certainly cooler-looking on the surface, it hides all your intricacies of choreography. Complex moves don't get to shine because we don't have time to comprehend them. When you are stick bashing? I'm all for speed, but when you get into a creative new move: slow it down some, and let it riiiiide... Show off to the camera, let the audience know that you know your ballin... Slowly. I have so much I want to say about this one but I'll end it with this: you will win LCC if and when you enter again. You substitute some of the stick bashing with some more of those creative moves and it's yours. You'll be the youngest LCC winners ever. Hit me with a pm and I will get your duel rotoed for you.
You've inspired a nation.."The Maestro-Best Conduction of All Time":

Rise of the Fallen
A surprisingly small amount of choreo here. Yes this is visually stunning, dare I say visually CUNNING. Blue saber has a unique fighting style, its a lot of rolling movement with the hilt which looks great, very powerful. But his movement seems to be limited to up, down, up, down, with very little variety. Red saber has a few good moments, but its just hacking otherwise. and more hacking. I get that he's a little pissed off so he isn't 100%, but some more interesting attacks would've helped sell he is raging. Otherwise its just kind of back and forth between the two men, never really showing who exactly is on the offensive. The choreo really takes a back seat near the end. Virtually all of the saber fighting past 4:26 is pretty basic, which normally would slide, but the duel builds up to that final battle and it loses all the flavor from the beginning of the duel. The footwork is a little messy at times as well, which I think stems from a focus on giving an emotional in-the-moment performance and forgetting your footing. The slow-mo shot of the blood and the saber stab deflect at the end are two of my favorite shots of all this LCC. The shot from your Youtube thumbnail is exceedingly impressive. The acting performances were pretty swell, that shot of blue saber about to be lightsaber lobotomized had some acting that will probably be underrated. I couldn't stop thinking about how similar your location looked to the plant near the end of Mission Impossible 2.
I bestow the award "You Were My Brother...-Best Outstanding Actor":

Round 1 Infinity
Wow... That first match was fought with such conviction, I immediately loved your villain. What a cool scene. Probably... One of my favorite scenes in all of LCC. I didn't expect it and it was performed very well. Storytelling through movement is in play here and I like it. Throughout the duel there are interesting moments, a lot of them revealing more about the characters which is something you don't get much of in duels. The footwork doesn't seem to have a rhyme or reason, if there'd been some more thought behind it it would've boosted your duel tremendously. I can't tell if you guys are wearing makeup, but yall look great. Very Kabuki-ish. The villain's costume is dope. Something I noticed this year is everyone's in costume, and the villains are all red and black. Like we all shop at the same Sith superstore. A light katana is a new one... do more. You guys have a lot of interesting ideas.
I grant you from a distance the award "Stone Cold- Most effin Intense Killshot":

Reunion
Some awkward framing on the choreo, doesn't showcase it well all the time. Not a lot to go off of here, most of the choreo seems to be coming from the guy. I think costumes might have hindered you here, being a bit restrictive and all. Theres a lot of holds in this one, followed by up down up down. I think some wider shots would've helped, but overall probably needed some less basic moves.
Xmen unite! "Show Me Ya Moves-Best standoff pose":

The Deal
Well... The moves are just repetitive. Left right up down, rinse repeat. Moves just weren't there, definitely needed some innovation to make it more interesting. The backhand stuff was a bit forced as well, there was no real reason for the switch, and the choreo came out slower. The killshot was almost framed a tad awkwardly, too far offscreen for us to really get the impact of it.
The most prestigious award "Up Up and Away-Coolest Opening Shot":

The Sith and the Jedi
Now this one was one of the most fun to look at. Choreo isn't crazy superb, but its beautifully lit and shot. This one made me realize how popular the headbutt was this year, I recall at least 4 entries with it. I would've liked to have seen some more intricate choreo, doing a duel almost exclusively in slow-mo provides an opportunity to get a little crazy and try some stuff out. Do some creative choreo that could hold up against scrutiny since each move is slower. Easily would've been the Spiff/Phi entry of this year with some more challenging choreo.
I give unto you the award "Artsy-Prettiest Duel in the Town":

In Search of a Master
Solid entry... It took a few viewings but it really is quite solid. Only thing I could possibly nitpick would be some of the attacks not really getting too close to green saber guy. Its a little too rehearsed feeling at times, feeling almost like stage combat. Which, would also explain the crazy solid footwork going on. Bravo you guys.
An award just for you "Shawarma- Best. Ending. Ever.":

So there were database problems with the voting because [reasons] that I have fixed using [methods]. However there were 10 votes submitted before I fixed it. If you were one of those 10 votes feel free to clear any cookies from lcc.phispace.net and resubmit your vote. I do have those 10 votes in raw form so I'll double check at the end of voting and manually input any of the 10 votes that aren't resubmitted.

And keep in mind you don't need to rank them all, just three! But if you want you can rank as many as you like

I don't know if I'll be able to sort them into my top 3, much less in order, but here's my thoughts on the entries.

DimoN vs Stas

I'm tired of the Chateau theme in fight scenes. But that's just me.

This was very similar to RvD in some places. They reverse grips at the same time, they pause a lot, they block a different move without moving the saber.

At 1:24, when the guy with the two-part saber has it locked with one half, just turn the other saber on and push with THAT half and chop him in half (if I'm understanding the blade tension correctly)

The first two moves with the two separate red sabers look like he's trying to use the two sabers as disadvantageously as possible (blocking one saber with two facing the same direction). It made me wonder how he can't just overpower that, or why not slip out the lower one and go for the kill. In fact, most of the fight, he swings both sabers in the same direction.

That pommel strike at 2:10 is very RvB2, but I like the additional attempted kill shot very much.

At 2:40, the simultaneous lunge needs something else there, or maybe it would have benefited from a different angle to show how close you two really came to skewering each other.

The choreography otherwise is pretty good. I wasn't expecting the pretty brutal ending. But I was right there, whispering "Chop his head off!"

All in all, a good entry.

Jedai (Samurai Epic Star Wars Film)

I was no fan of the previous entry Inversions, and... BOY, has there not been a whole lot of improvement. The stuff between the unarmed guy and the bad guy was the sole moment of interest. Put in twelve Jedis and slice them like deli meat in a few moves, sure, but those few moves could be more interesting that what we see here. I wish I HAD eight people to do a one-on-seven fight, even with the stipulation that each person had to die in two moves. It could definitely be more interesting than this. This is such a squandered opportunity.

When the guy throws him down at 4:05 by grabbing his saber arm... I wanted to scream, "DISARM HIM, YOU DOPE!" (In fact, that happened in Inversions, too!)

When the unarmed bald guy pulls out his saber and he grunts (4:13) and throws the guy off... what is he DOING?

I'll give a pass to everything else (though the lightsaber effects are a teeny bit dodgy, but there's a lot of them, and I can't do the effects at all, so hey). I like how the black cloak guy gets more and more gray as he is thrown into the dirt. It's interesting. I even kinda like the story and performance.

But there is absolutely NOTHING special about this choreography. It's completely generic and basic. It's not even standard without any moment to stand out like Round 1 Infinite (below). None of the moves are even that interesting. This is like watching Skyline, watching them throw special effects at a not very special script. (To be fair, this short is much better and more interesting than Skyline.)

My recommendation is to choreograph the next lightsaber fight without thinking about the VFX and see if your fight is exciting without all the flummery. This one isn't exciting even WITH the flummery.

Sciurus art group. For LCC 2012.

Man, did I lose sight of the stick sabers a lot at the beginning. I just could not tell where they were.

At 3:08, I thought, "You twit. Why let your opponent get that close?" And then at 3:48, it happened AGAIN.

I was relieved when the second saber red came in. But then it went, "1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4." Maybe it's not exactly repeating the same moves, but from a static angle, it sure looks like it to me. Repeating a set of moves can be effective if you change them suddenly to upset the pattern, but... really, I don't know what you're going for here. I wasn't certain if the first moves were just being repeated over and over, but now I'm guessing it must have been the point. I suppose it's because they're sparring, but... explaining that it's sparring doesn't immediately make the sparring interesting.

The only bit of the choreography that stands out at all are the two silly wrists grabs.

John Vs. Marvin

Oh my God, cameraguy, BACK UP. Lemme see what's going on here! I earnestly have no clue what happened in this entry. The camera is over one of the other guys's shoulder, which means the camera is closer to the fighter than the OTHER FIGHTER. It's so close that I think you guys were too afraid to swing for fear of hitting the camera. Half the time, I'm not sure you're even making contact.

I'm baffled, so I can't really comment on the choreography. At least the victor wasted absolutely no time in dispatching him once he had no saber. I liked that.

...did you special thanks yourself?!

Child's Play

This starts off on the right foot with sexy sith lady and lightwhip (better utilized than last year. Though it does bug me that she uses the whip at a distance, then puts it away and takes out her saber AND THEN HE MOVES BACK with a big jump.

There's a difference between the choreography not being special and being basic like Entry 2. Here, it's of the level we sort of expect (with some cool gymnastic moves), but it's just not performed or shot as slickly as it could be.

I have no idea what's happening in 2:38, and the little "shock" soound at 2:42... is that because she clearly didn't hit him, so it's like a little shock came out of the bottom of the saber or something? It's not a bad sell, just the wrong angle for it.

At 3:02... I'm not sure why she walks away. I was hoping for the breakout to be him grabbing her saber, push it up, free his saber and chop at her legs (he coulda! both his hands are there!).

This is a cute and well-produced entry, but not overproduced like Jedai.

The Prize

Yeah, it's two guys in T-shirts sort of slowly doing their duel, but you know what? This one had moments I really liked, even if they were slow. (1:04, where the guy holds the guy's own lightsaber right near his neck, the disarm at 1:20, 1:40-1:42, that little sequence, 2:07-2:10.)

Lots of minimalist movement, too, kinda like The Glove from last year. There is a lot of good here, though it's so slow, it's not really convincing in the least. But to hell with it. You got moxie, guys.

Also, my first legit laugh in this entry came at the end.

Jan vs Tobais

Oh man, "Thenextryanwieber..." expect to be called on that MERCILESSLY. This entry had better rock my socks right off the the laundry.

1. When only one saber had effects, I was hoping it would chop right through the other one.

2. I know that I also did a 2-saber-vs-none disarm, but come on. At least I had a stick. I actually like the disarm, but in any slightly more realistic fight, he'd be chopped into dog food long before that disarm would work.

3. To be continued... GUH.

I got no beef with this one.

Hilltop Duel

Oh great, more kids in their driveway, I bet that... WHUHHH?!

Yeah, the sabers are some kind of superthin something or other. I could probably be that fast with whatever they were using, but DAMN. You guys are slick. I was NOT expecting this.

With the credits at the front, I wasn't sure if this was gonna run backwards like The True Measure Of Devotion.

I would swear the kid in the Canada Shirt grabs the saber by the blade when he does that awesome grip flip, but still... and the bit where he's fighting him while they're both facing the same way at 1:48...

And then they DUEL WHILE ON BIKES!?! OH SNAP.

You should always wear a helmet on bikes, of course.

I was grinning like an idiot for this whole entry. This is one of my favorites. Bravo.

Rise of the Fallen

Confidence wasn't high at the start of this one after Jedai. But this is the VFX and story flummery done better, or at least to SOME gain.

The choreography isn't super fancy, but at least it's delivered with some damned intensity. It's lots of huge swings up and down, but at least there IS intensity. And at 1:48, he turns his entire mouth into blood. So there's that.

At 2:12, so... he pushes him away, runs up towards him and THEN force jumps away even further?

I wasn't entirely certain that the guy wielding a staff had ever used a staff before... maybe it was deliberate, but all he ever did was twirl it a bit and swing one end like a bat. Everything about the staff is about making a bunch of attacks very quickly, but here it is in the hand of a brute.

A good entry, and one I enjoyed. Maybe this one with a life on Youtube, but there's just not enough fighting for my taste.

Round 1 Infinity

Ooh, you almost lost me with the flat lightsaber. That stupid flat katana lightsaber from the special edition of ANH is one of the ONLY retcons I can't excuse.

On the other hand, a lightsaber that looks like the handle of a katana is friggin awesome.

All the choreography is fine, but there really isn't any "that's awesome" moment. It's hard to come up with anything to say. It's all pretty good.

I really like the conceit of the fight, but maybe it's missing that je nais se quois, or however that's spelled.

REUNION

I think the effects actually hurt this one. It's harder to get a feel for the motion when the saber effects are kinda jerky (and occasionally, the wrong saber is on top...) When you watch the sabers, I don't really believe they're where they appear to be.I'm not saying I can do better (I can't), but it hurts my comprehension of the fight.

There's a cool move at around 1:32 where she passes it around her back. I liked that ok.

At 1:37, Why did it take her that long to use her other arm?

At 1:47, TAKE YOUR KILL SHOT, DAMMIT. PLEASE. Either that or let ONE hand off your saber and poke him in the eye!

The flip at 1:58... with her foot there, I don't know how she generated the physics to flip him that way. He'd have to be leaning over 90 degrees to make that flip make sense, wouldn't he?

I just wish you guys had claimed that what appears to be New York was a suburb of Coruscant. That woulda made me happy.

The Deal

Man... L2 color correct. My colors are never that great, but man. The single blade stuff isn't anything special, but that lunge what what I was hoping for from the lunge in the first entry. There's the stuff at 1:25 with some decent reverse-grip stuff. I think the problem is you guys so often are SO damn close, especially at the beginning of the fight.

When the third saber gets involved, the choreography gets FAR more interesting, but that that silly Frankenstein walk towards him (which, I assure you, is NOT badass, but everything after it is).

Just like when I saw Attack of the Clones, they finally give someone two sabers, and it's over before I can really get into it. (One of the reasons I struggled to accept The Glove, because it's over before I can get into it).

At the end, this entry is actually pretty good, but it's not quite there for my taste.

The Sith and the Jedi

I was COMPLETELY unmoved by this entry. These guys are clearly doing dome intense moves, but the slow motion mutes the impact that has. And THEN they flast back to those scenes in closer to regualr speed and you realize, they weren't that intense to begin with!

It's got flawless roto (not a trivial feat when the whole thing's in slow motion). But the choreo, while intense, doesn't build to anything. Yeah, we've all seen the 720 saber lock spin to a shoulder push. Come on, now.

At 3:10, it starts to pick up with some better and more elaborate stuff, and then it's over.

Just not for me, I guess.

In Search of a Master

Ooh. I really liked this one. I can't quite quantify it, but there's just a different flavor to the choreography in this one.

I was one of the guys who sneered when they were talking about electroluminescent blades in the topic earlier, but hey, go with what works.

And do I declare? A reverse grip sequence that really works? And a sequence of a leg-slash-to-opponent-head-slash that actually works? (1:30).

I don't know if there's a single wrong move in the whole sequence.)Maybe that flip, but hey, you pulled it off) I liked this one a whole lot. Applause. Roses. Hotel keys. Panties.

Prevail

GUH. Not another To Be Continued. If this entry didn't rock my face off, I'd be peeved.

THIS is the entry I've been waiting from these guys since LCCVII. Show us how to do the lightwhip. Get really fast with it. Bring back the light-naginata. And even a force Karate chop.

I was terrified that once the guy did the force lightning that they'd never pick the sabers back up. I was like, "NO, it was just getting good!" And being able to block with the back of the naginata might not make sense in general, but it makes for some awesome fighting. This is awesome.

I think mayyybe the saber on saber stuff isn't anything super special, but it's still solid.

Slice

I've never even HEARD of a katara. But OH DIP.

I think the saber-on saber stuff is good, but not great. There's some great crap in there (1:30 - 1:38). And I am surprised that the guy didn't IMMEDIATELY start with BOTH sabers once the other guy had FOUR.

What happened to the seat on that picnic table?

I knew what would happen at the end, of course, but damn, this is a funny entry, too.

Ferocity

OK, an entry by Whitely called "ferocity" when he already has the most ferocious fight in LCC history?

...well, not anymore.

I fricking LOVE this entry. I love how the guy with no saber just runs up and tries to screw with the guy with the staff.

I'm looking for a move that doesn't work. It's hard to watch, it's so fast. I don't think there's a bad move in this whole thing. And I LOVE the kill at 1:47.

The only thing I miss about Whiteley's new duels is Whiteley himself. I loved The Tunnel. I miss watching him trash people.

Echelon: Boter vs Vaportrail

Nobody benefits strongly from following Whiteley, but this one actually is pretty good. I suppose it makes more sense to use electroluminescent blades in night time, when you'll actually see them.

At 1:27, when he floats the two sabers, that's more badass than that Frankenstein walk from before.

There might be a little too much other stuff in this one for me. I liked a lot of it, and it's always good to see new stuff. This one is lacking slightly in the viciousness in some other ones, but it's sufficiently brutal. They're just kicking the crap out of each other. It helps break up the blade stuff, which is good.

And... so the guy in the yellow shirt opened up the blue portal on his hand? Where's the orange portal?

I like the build-up quite a bit, but it's merely good, not great. Lots of ideas, though. There's no such thing as a bad idea in a lightsaber fight (well, that's not true, but whatever.)

RvSB | Nemesis

Oh, man, I have been waiting for this since the first one. I'm almost surprised that's the same guy from the first one with the drop glasses trick and everything.

I don't know if I can quite give it first with Ferocity there. I don't know if this is "better," but...

The going through walls thing I'm not sure if it works, but good on you for trying. Never seen that before. And damn if the choreography isn't great. There's tons of stuff flying around, changing locations, it's just so much fun. FUN is the thing I'm always looking for in these things. Sometimes, it comes across so loveless.

I LOVE that move at 3:48.

I'm guessing that one scene is where they fight with force lightning. I'm growing increasingly restless with lightning. It's so cheap and easy to growl and jazz hands at one another. And there might be just a BIT too much... not-fighting. But just a bit. I love this entry. It MIGHT be my first place.

One thing I noticed this year is that there's a lot of "stick-arm-out-at-each-others-faces-but-have-it-go-right-passed-and-pull-back". Seriously, that got a little annoying after the first time.

I'll just cover my top three, because most of what needs to be said about the others has been said.

At Third Place: Ferocity
This was just insane. In a good way, the speed, the way that energy was maintained and just didn't drop? And the fact that it was down with a double vs two guys? Also, as has been mentioned, not once did it look like one of the other guys was awaiting his turn. Incredibly solid entry, though I still think I prefer Rivals, it just felt more immersive. Great job guys, hope to see you again next year.

I may well have given this second place, (It was a hard choice.) but I think that while the speed is perfect for a finished piece, it makes it hard to see the choreography clearly.

At Second Place: Round 1 Infinity
Another solid entry here. The concept is great and it has a nice progress to it. Love the Katana-saber. I do hope that you finish off the effects because it'd look so much better. The choreography, despite being fairly simplistic, was good and executed well. Nice one.

At First Place: In Search of a Master
I- jus- WOW!! I love everything about this. Every move not only has intent, they're executed with incredible precision. The speed is perfect, it shows off the choreography clearly. It really does have a sense of "this is a test". My favourite entry by far and right up there with the RvD's and RvB's alike for me. I like the set up at the end as well. Please come back next year.

And... so the guy in the yellow shirt opened up the blue portal on his hand? Where's the orange portal?

Oh man it does look like that O.O

...

The orange portal was inside my saber <.<

Thanks for the honorable mention! I was looking forward to another one from you, your last one and especially the one before that for VIII was a lot of fun; a shame we didn't get to see one, but there's always next year!

Thanks for the honorable mention! I was looking forward to another one from you, your last one and especially the one before that for VIII was a lot of fun; a shame we didn't get to see one, but there's always next year!

If I come back for Round 3, I want it to be a bigger jump than between 1 and 2. We'll be back, if we can manage it.

Would it be appropriate for me to put up my ranking of the things in order? I finally figured out what order I have them in (and there were some heartbreakers in this one, let me tell you what). Or should I wait until after the show?